Modules and Folders in Ultra Course View
Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV) has two primary options for organizing your course content Folders and Modules. This document introduces both and discusses some of the key differences between them.
Folders have an icon associated with them where modules are not. There are slight differences in the way that their backgrounds are shaded. Both allow for a title and description that is visible without opening it. Clicking on each causes it to unfold and display the contents inside.
Navigation of the content they contain is slightly different. Clicking folder contents opens a new navigation layer that displays the content. To view another item a users must close it and selection another, which subsequently opens its own layer. Click module contents also opens them in a new navigation layer but modules contain an additional navigation element that allows the user to browse to the next item directly, rather than having to close the exiting and open the new.
Both folders and modules allow instructors to group and organize content in ultra course view. While folders are designed to group documents or related information in a single container, modules add the potential for organizing the material in a sequence. Once the content is ordered in a module, instructors can choose whether to allow students to complete the content in any order or enable the "forced sequence" option which requires that the complete each segment before gaining access to the next item. |
By default, Progress Tracking is not enabled in Blackboard Ultra Courses; it must be enabled by the instructor on a course-by-course basis. When an instructor enables progress tracking, an indicator is added to each item in the course. When a student opens or views a piece of content they the indicator marks that the content is partially complete. For some items, content is marked complete when the student finishes the task. For example if a student completes a test, makes a required discussion board post, or submits an assignment, the Blackboard will automatically mark the item complete with the indicator. For items without a completion step, such a reading, the student can click the indicator to signify that they have completed reviewing the content. If a student wishes to mark a complete item as incomplete, they can click it again to change the status to partially complete.
Regardless of whether Progress Tracking is enabled, modules that have the "forced sequence" will always display progress indicators, showing students which items are available to them and which are "locked" because they have not completed the previous step in the module.
Limitations
In general, both modules and folders can hold the same types of content, but there are some limitations about how they are used and combined:
- Folders only allow nesting two folders deep. While you can put one folder inside another, you cannot add a folder to the sub-folder.
- Folders can be added to modules, but modules cannot be placed inside of a folder. All modules must live at the top navigation level of the course.